Thirumanilaiyur Sitapati Ramana Subramanian (11 December 1938 – 26 February 2018) was an Indian bureaucrat who served as the

cabinet secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

from August 1996 to March 1998. He was a 1961 batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

officer from

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

Cadre.

Early life and education

He was born into a middle class

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

family and had spent much of his schooling days in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

Tamil nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Subramanian has a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, and has studied at the

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

(officially Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine). He also held a master's degree in Public Administration from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Career

Subramanian served in the

, where he held various positions including that of

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

(1 August 1996 to 31 March 1998), the highest post in the Indian administration and the post of Secretary in the

Ministry of Textiles The Ministry of Textiles is an Indian government national agency responsible for the formulation of policy, planning, development, export promotion and regulation of the textile industry in India. This includes all natural, artificial, and ce ...

. He was Non-Executive Director of

HCL Technologies HCL Technologies Limited ( d/b/a HCLTech) is an Indian multinational information technology (IT) consulting company headquartered in Noida. Founded by Shiv Nadar, it was spun out in 1991 when HCL entered into the software services business. ...

from September 1999 to November 2011. He was a founder member and former

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

Shiv Nadar University Shiv Nadar University (Institute of Eminence) is a private university located near Greater Noida, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was founded in 2011 by Shiv Nadar, the founder and chairman of HCL. History The university ...

. He held directorships for a few companies like HCL and SABMiller. He was also Founder Chairperson, VidyaGyan Leadership Academy & Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation.

Remarks

On 31 October 2013, the Supreme Court's decision in

T. S. R. Subramanian v. Union of India ''T. S. R. Subramanian versus Union of India and Ors.'', was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India in which the Court ruled that civil servants were not bound to follow oral directives. The case began with a public interest civil ...

drastically reduced political pressure on top bureaucrats by ruling that they must get an assured minimum tenure in posting. Additionally, the Court held that civil servants were not bound to follow oral directives from the Government. "Fixed tenure of bureaucrats will promote professionalism, efficiency and good governance," bench observed. "Much of the deterioration in the functioning of bureaucracy is due to political interference," the SC said. The SC also directed the Centre and state governments to pass an order within three months on giving fixed tenure to civil servants. The PIL filed by 83 retired bureaucrats including former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian seeking its directions for insulating bureaucracy from political interference. "This is a landmark judgement. Public servants are not private servants," Subramanian said.

Works

* ''India at Turning Point: The Road to Good Governance'' * ''GovernMint In India: An Inside View'' (2009) * ''Journeys Through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India'' (2004)

References

External links

Shiv Nadar University official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramanian, TSR 1938 births 2018 deaths University of Calcutta alumni Cabinet Secretaries of India Alumni of Imperial College London Harvard Kennedy School alumni Indian Administrative Service officers People from Thanjavur